Porsgrunn was originally the name of one of the three small islands located where the Down Town Shopping Mall is now. Porsgrunn has long traditions of being a harbour town, and was described as such in records dating all the way back to the 16th century, but it was not until the 17th century that Porsgrunn became an important seaport for the export of timber.
Moving the customs house from Skien to Porsgrunn in 1653 added to the flourishing harbour activity, and Porsgrunn became a thriving market town. It was granted urban status in 1807, and in 1842, Porsgrunn became an independent municipality.
Industrialization gathered momentum in the 19th century as shipyards and sawmills were built. A necessary economic adjustment towards the end of the 19th century led to the establishment of the Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik A/S, which began manufacturing china in 1887. The decade from 1910 to 1920 marked the beginning of the iron and metal industry in the area. In 1929, Norsk Hydro built a very large fertilizer factory on Herøya, which has had a strong impact on local economic development.
In 1964, a merger of three municipalities, Porsgrunn, Eidanger and Brevik - resulted in the formation of a new municipality with two centres, i.e. the "southern-style" town of Brevik and greater Porsgrunn. Over the past decade, Porsgrunn has also become a hub of education. Technical instruction began at Skiensfjorden`s Technical College in 1884. Today Porsgrunn is the home of a college of engineering that offers graduate-level courses - The Telemark Regional College.Porsgrunn is currently Norway`s third largest export harbour, and features a well-diversied industrial, economic and cultural base.
About 33.000 people live in Porsgrunn.
The district of Porsgrunn is today part of a larger piece of land, called Grenland. In the early Middle Ages Grenland was inhabited by the so called Grenes, and at that time Porsgrunn became an important loading-up place for timber. But the history of Grenland is much older than that, approximately 4-5000 years. All over the district there are a lot of historical memorials as proofs, i.e. rockcarvings, gravemounds and a prehistoric fortress. The area of Porsgrunn makes the district the smallest one in the county of Telemark. There are two town centres, Brevik in the south and Porsgrunn in the north.
Together with the old countryside of Eidanger it gives a nice change between town and countryside. Famous big industries have contributed to wealth and prosperity, which in turn makes Porsgrunn of today a centre for industrial research and university colleges, eagerly working for among other projects the protection of natural resources.
Not far from the industrial areas you’ll find wonderful nature of various kinds, even nature yet untouched. Porsgrunn has something for everybody’s taste. Discover the multifold, explore the district of